Episode 4: Welcome to the Big Top

“Sexist, racist, anti-gay! All you bigots go away!

“Sexist, racist, anti-gay! All you bigots go away!

“Sexist, racist, anti-gay! All you bigots go away!

“Sexist, racist, anti-gay! All you bigots go away!”

President Buchmann rallied the crowd in front of the courthouse a few days later.

As the crowd calmed down, she stood aside for Senator Castillo.

“Bienvenidas and welcome! Next week,” Senator Castillo began, “we’re going to make history!”

“Next week, we’re going to send a message!”

“Next week, we’re going to STOP them from taking away our rights!”

“We love you, Roxy!” screamed a woman from the crowd.

President Buchmann stepped back up to the railing. “LOVE is great, but what matters is did you VOTE for her?”

“Her first primary and election, and last year again!” the woman shouted, holding up four fingers. “I voted for Roxy FOUR times!”

“FOUR TIMES!” A booming voice erupted from the back of the crowd. “You voted FOUR TIMES? Mighty good thing you was votin’ fer a DEMOCRAT in this here BLUE STATE. ’Cause we don’t tolerate that kind of election fraud where I come from.”

A man in a business suit wearing a bolo tie and a cowboy hat stepped forward accompanied by the superintendent, a rather attractive young woman in a formal gray pant suit, and a couple of police officers.

“Why, in Texas,” the stranger continued, handing a leather briefcase to his aide, walking forward and taking possession of a spot beside the senator atop the courthouse steps, “we go by the principle of one man, one vote! Even for the fairer sex!”

“Chad,” Senator Castillo crossed her arms and shook her head in disgust.

“What are YOU doing here?” exclaimed an obviously disconcerted President Buchmann with indignation.

“Ma’am,” he swept his cowboy hat off his head and bowed, “Senator Chad Travis, proudly representing the Lone Star State, but here with you today on behalf of the defense!”

“You can’t do that!” the president protested. “You don’t even LIVE in our state!”

“Senator Castillo no longer has a valid license to practice law in this state, either,” the superintendent pointed out with obvious satisfaction. “The judge agreed to waive that requirement and allow her to appear in support of the prosecution. Under the circumstances, the judge felt obliged to extend to the defense that same courtesy and allow the appearance of Senator Travis for the defense.”

“Well, then,” Senator Castillo bowed to the inevitable. “I suppose we shall have to welcome my dear colleague, Senator Travis, to our state.”

“My dear colleague, Senator Castillo,” Travis acknowledged her. “I accept your warm welcome with all the sincerity and warmth with which you intended it.”

“I assure you, Senator Travis,” Senator Castillo cautioned him, “you will find the citizens of MY state less tolerant of your bigotry and discrimination than you may be used to.”

Senator Travis placed his right hand on his heart and stretched out his other arm. “All I seek,” he assured her and the crowd with a booming voice, “is an IMPARTIAL jury of twelve GOOD citizens and true, for my client is INNOCENT, his cause is JUST, and I have confidence that SCIENCE and JUSTICE will prevail.”

“No-hate in-our-state!” A voice screamed out.

“No-hate in-our-state!”

The chant began to spread.

“No-hate in-our-state!!”

“Let him speak!” Senator Castillo held up her hands, quieting the crowd. “Let him speak! Let Senator Travis expose his misogyny and transphobia to public scrutiny.”

“Why Senator Castillo,” Travis replied, “that’s mighty sweet of you. I don’t think my wife would approve.”

“Why Senator Travis,” Castillo countered. “I can assure you my boyfriend doesn’t approve of your boorish flirtations either!”

“How wonderful you and I can return to find some common ground at long last!” Senator Travis spread his arms wide as if to embrace the crowd. “But this is bigger than you and me and our petty, private disputes. This is about SCIENCE, about JUSTICE, and I’m confident once an impartial jury has heard my client’s case, he will be acquitted on all charges.”

Senator Travis confronts Senator Castillo

“I can’t speak for Texas, Senator, but this state has long recognized the importance of equity and social justice,” Castillo rebutted Travis. “Our citizens sent me to Washington to serve the cause of equity and social justice, and now I have returned home to help ensure that transphobia and archaic attitudes about sex and gender do not once again take root. Our state has no place for your hate. The law will be upheld, and if you don’t like it, you are welcome to ask the people to repeal it.”

“Recognition of reality isn’t hate,” Senator Travis drawled to his colleague. “And this thriving rural county is not representative of the metropolis you call home, Senator, or your state at large,” Travis pointed out. “In fact, even with the campus precincts heavily in your favor, a majority of voters in this wonderful rustic county had the wisdom to reject your candidacy in the last election. I’d say that bodes well for finding a jury with the horse sense to make the right decision.”

“And since the right decision is to find the defendant, guilty, I’m also confident the jury will have the good judgement to make the right decision,” Senator Castillo smiled sweetly. “You can take your transphobic attitudes, stuff them in your saddle bags, and ride on back to Texas, Chad. You’re in my state, now. And there’s no hate in our state! No-hate in-our-state!”

The crowd picked up the chant, drowning out whatever Senator Travis might have replied. “Enjoy your cheap rhetorical tricks while you can, Roxy,” Travis said to Castillo. “That hound won’t hunt in court.”

Senator Castillo gave her colleague a dismissive gesture and returned to leading the chant.

Senator Travis shook his head in disgust and continued past her and into the courthouse with his aide and the superintendent, pursued by the cheers and delight of the crowd that had driven them away.

“No-hate in-our-state!” continued reverberating through the courthouse as the guard allowed Senator Travis and the superintendent into the holding cell area. Acey and Mike were sitting next to each other on opposite sides of the bars dividing them.

Acey noticed the visitor first and stood. “You’re… you’re… you’re….”

“Senator Chad Travis of Texas,” the lawmaker swept off his hat and strode confidently across the room to the couple. “And this is my aide. You must be Dr. Andrews.” The senator thrust a hand through the bars.

“Pleased to meet you, Senator Travis.” Mike took the senator’s outstretched hand.

“Call me, Chad,” the senator offered. “Provided of course I can call you Mike.”

“Certainly sir… I mean Chad.”

“No problem, Mike,” the senator smiled. “But who is this lovely friend of yours?”

“Acey Buchmann,” Mike introduced her, “my fellow high school teacher.”

The senator took her hand and kissed it. “Wonderful that Mike has good friends standing by him.”

“Her mother is the president of the local university,” the superintendent cautioned. “President Buchmann was the woman with Senator Castillo out on the courthouse steps.”

“Oh,” the senator processed the information. “How do you feel about all this?” he asked Acey.

“It’s crazy,” she replied, “absolutely crazy! To think my Mike could be at the center of such a mess. I wish he’d just apologize, so everyone could forgive and forget, and it’d all be over.”

Senator Travis shook his head. “An apology would be interpreted as an admission of guilt. It would only make matters worse for Mike.”

“But they’re just angry what he taught came off as transphobic. If he could just convince them…”

“If Mike apologizes,” the senator insisted, “they’d take his scalp. He’d be fired and they’d do their best to make an example of him to deter anyone else from defying them.”

“You men are always so unreasonable,” Acey insisted. “I think you’re taking advantage of Mike, trying to make him a pawn in your silly games. You think about it, Mike,” she implored him. “Think long and hard before you let them push you into doing anything you shouldn’t.”

No one reacted to her.

“Well, I have to be going, anyway,” she said at last. “See you tomorrow, Mike.”

“Bye, Acey,” he replied as the guard escorted her out.

“It IS a hell of a circus out there,” the senator gestured behind him. “I think you have the right idea, staying locked up in here until the trial. How are you holding up?”

“Just fine,” Mike confirmed. “Catching up on my reading. And wondering how things spiraled so far out of control.”

“I came a long way to represent you,” the senator reminded him. “I hope you don’t have cold feet.”

“It’s just way more than I bargained for,” Mike confessed.

“There’s going to be enormous pressure placed on you and everyone else involved,” the senator explained, “and this is just the beginning. You heard what I told your lady friend. You give up now, and you’ll probably be fired. Of course, you may get fired anyway, but at least if you do, it’ll be because you stood up for what’s right.”

“Mike’s not going to be fired,” the superintendent assured them both. “We’ve got his back. And he has two years left on a three-year contract with the school district.”

“Good,” the senator acknowledged, then turned back to Mike.

“If you’re going to cave on me, well, better I know now rather than later,” he explained. “You’re riding a tiger now, Mike. You try to jump off, he’ll eat you. Your best bet is to maintain course, keep fighting, and hold on for dear life! I’ll be there fighting with you. What I need to know right now is if you’re willing to go the distance and fight beside us. I need your commitment to see it through.”

Mike looked off into the distance. Then he focused back on the senator. “Let’s do this thing.”

“Good man,” Travis nodded. “Jury selection is Monday morning, so we don’t have a lot of time; let’s get started.”

He gestured to his aide who opened his briefcase and handed him a yellow legal pad to take notes.

“Tell me a bit about yourself and your background, and exactly how DID you get into this situation?”

“As far back as I can remember,” Mike began, “I loved figuring out and understanding how nature worked and explaining it to other people. I’ve always wanted to be a scientist and a teacher. That’s been my life’s goal.”